Muhammad Ali was a leader and a great example for African Americans and white men and women around the world. He led by example by having many triumphs and tragedies in his life.
He did many great things in and out of the boxing ring. One of the biggest things he did was refused to go into the vietnam war. He did this because he did not want to lose his heavyweight title, his family, and possibly his future. He showed everyone that one should never give up on what one would want and to not let anybody take it away. He said “Don’t count the days, make the days count.” This meant that it’s about the quality of life not how long a person lived on Earth but how you lived on earth.
During the time Muhammad Ali got really big and famous there was something called the draft. Unfortunately he got selected in the draft to serve in the Vietnam war. He refused to go and because of that he was sentenced to five years in prison with a 10,000 dollar fine. So he served the 5 years in prison rather than risking his life in a war. He was also banned from boxing for 3 years. He was later stripped from his heavyweight belt, making him not the champion of the world anymore. When he was unbanned he worked really hard and the rest is history.
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Muhammad Ali was born January 17, 1942. He went to school at Central High School in Louisville Kentucky. It seemed like it was overnight Ali became a celebrity. He was expected to follow in the footsteps of previous champions like Joe Louis and Sugar Ray Robinson, who had both served in the U.S. Army. Ali was known as the world’s greatest boxing with 56 wins and only 5 losses and was also an olympic gold medalist. His punching and dodges were historically fast. He was so quick he came up with a famous quote “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.” Ali made boxing so much bigger because people loved watching him. The People loved watching him so much because he was so good and changed the game of boxing. Ali and he soon became “The Greatest.”
There were many good things that he did to help both himself and other people. Some people cannot find their voice; however, Ali found the opportunity to speak out against racism.
At the time, young black men were not expected to voice their opinion. Even though Ali spoke in an “arrogant” way, he became the “symbol of dignity and self-determination” for black youth.
Ali became the heavyweight champion after defeating Liston on February 25th, 1964. Shortly after Ali decided he was going to change his “slave name” of Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali. After Ali changed his name many sportswriters and even Ali’s rivals still called him Cassius Clay. “I know where I’m going and I know the truth and I don’t have to be what you want me to be,” Ali said at his first post-championship press conference. “I’m free to be what I want.” Since he had a problem, he spoke out against injustice, racial inequality, and terrorist attacks. He wanted to have a voice so if he had a problem with something he would speak out about it to try to make a change.
Another reason is since Ali wanted to bring out and lighten African American people. He tried to bring black pride out, and show second class citizens that they could be the greatest too.
Ali showed more respect for white people than African Americans. To bring the black pride out of African Americans he used the most racist images. He also criticized them and made them feel bad about themselves. For Ali criticizing his opponents was harder for him then it was for them. He didn’t like to criticize his opponents it was dangerous but he did it for many good reasons.
Ali supported peace in the world despite his relentless maturity in the ring. Ali met with Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein during the Gulf War. He met with Hussein to try to release American hostages.Because Ali cared so much he made humanitarian trips to Cuba in 1998 and 1996. He also donated over 1 million dollars in medical aid. When he opened the Muhammad Ali Center in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, in 2005, he said it was intended to be more than a place. He wanted the center to inspire people to be the best they can be and be respectful to each other and in 2005, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
There was also a setback for Ali. While he was a boxer, he was hit in the head many times. This could have caused his diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease in 1984. Because Ali wanted to help others, he founded the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center. Because of his diagnosis hit limited his ability to speak and move, but he never backed away from the spotlight. To share his thoughts Ali made a twitter account. His decision to go public with his battle with Parkinson’s has helped raise awareness of the condition. It’s a really good and bad thing that he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease . It was good because if he was never diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease he would never had made the Muhammad Ali Center. If he had never made the the Muhammad Ali Center many people today probably would be going through a lot more. It’s bad that he had it because it affected his speaking and movement and he had to retire from boxing early.
In conclusion Muhammad Ali went through many triumphs and tragedies in his life and was a great example for many people around the world. He went through many hard things like racism, injustice, and being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. He also had to deal with lots of criticism form the media in and out of the ring. In my opinion the hardest thing to do was speak up because it is really hard to speak out at that time period especially if they were black because they could potentially get thrown in jail for that. He did many great things for himself and the U.S.
One really good thing that he did was when he refused to go into the Vietnam war. This was probably the biggest thing because he had to serve 5 years of prison, a 10,000 dollar fine, and after he got out he was banned from boxing for three years. He changed the game of boxing with his speed, and quick and powerful punches. This was super big because people today look at boxing a lot different because of his great influence. So Muhammad Ali was definitely one of the greatest if not the greatest and did many things for not only for himself but more importantly for other people around him. He has inspired so many people around the world and that resulted in triumph.
